In Episode 12 of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith and Joe Mattia sit down with Cezary, a veteran software architect and systems engineer with decades of experience across finance, telecom, and large-scale distributed systems.

Cezary brings a rare perspective from deep inside traditional IT and financial infrastructure — from architecting insurance platforms and managing large engineering teams in Poland, to teaching Sun and Oracle systems, to eventually stepping into crypto after encountering IPFS, distributed storage, and the limits of centralized trust.

Together, the conversation pulls back the curtain on how crypto actually works under the hood — RPC providers, fake liquidity, high-frequency trading illusions, dependency hell, and the uncomfortable truth that most users (and many builders) don't really understand the systems they rely on. They explore why centralized exchanges can fabricate volume, how front-running and order-flow selling quietly mirror Wall Street practices, and why DEXs — while imperfect — offer radically better transparency.

The episode then shifts into software craftsmanship and governance: why UX quality is collapsing across tech, how AI-generated features are degrading coherence, and why most products fail because builders don't use their own tools. Cezary and Chris dig into testing culture, ownership, dependency risk, release discipline, and how one malicious commit or poorly audited library can compromise an entire financial network.

In the final act, they go deep on blockchain architecture — why Quantus chose Substrate, how abstraction layers enable cryptographic evolution, the dangers of over-centralized leadership, and why shared ownership, clear responsibility, and reduced attack surface matter more than speed or hype. It's a grounded, technical, and philosophical conversation about building systems that can survive real adversaries — human, economic, and quantum.

🔗 Follow the Guests

Cezary

X – https://x.com/czareko

Christopher Smith

X – https://x.com/YuviLightman

Joe Mattia

X – https://x.com/JoeMattia

Quantus Network

Website – https://www.quantus.com/

Telegram – https://t.me/quantusnetwork

Ecosystem – https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱ Chapters

00:00 — From traditional IT to crypto: Cezary's path through finance & systems

03:30 — Why crypto infrastructure is still shockingly immature

07:00 — RPC providers, trust assumptions & invisible centralization

11:00 — Fake liquidity, front-running & the illusion of exchange volume

15:00 — Traders vs investors, psychology & long-term signal extraction

19:00 — UX collapse, AI feature spam & building products nobody uses

24:00 — Ownership, testing culture & why release discipline matters

29:00 — Dependency hell, audits & real attack surfaces in crypto

34:00 — Why Quantus chose Substrate & designing for cryptographic change

39:00 — Shared ownership, decentralization & building systems that last

🧠 Themes

Distributed systems · Crypto infrastructure · UX failure · Software quality · DEX vs CEX · Front-running · Dependency risk · Governance · Post-quantum readiness · Builder responsibility

🔖 Hashtags

#TheQuantumPodcast #QuantusNetwork #ChristopherSmith #JoeMattia #Cezary

#CryptoInfrastructure #Blockchain #SoftwareEngineering #UXDesign

#DeFi #Security #DistributedSystems #OpenSource #Technology #Innovation

TheQuantumPodcast, QuantusNetwork, ChristopherSmith, JoeMattia, Cezary, CryptoInfrastructure, Blockchain, SoftwareEngineering, UXDesign, DeFi, Security, DistributedSystems, OpenSource, Technology, Innovation

In Episode 11 of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith and Joe Mattia sit down in Dubai with polymath builder, investor, and biohacker Tom Howard, joined by returning co-host Jangle, for a wild ride from TSA bomb scares to bank balance sheets to quantum-era Bitcoin risk.

Tom opens with a hilarious (and slightly terrifying) story about getting the TSA bomb squad called on him over a homemade electrolyte mix — then unpacks what "biohacking" actually means, from saunas and mitochondria to fertility, longevity, and why most people should start with sleep, movement, and blood panels before chasing exotic stacks.

From there, the crew dives deep into how banks really work: reserve ratios, the quiet removal of reserve requirements, FDIC backstops, duration risk, and why regional banks fear stablecoins far more than JPMorgan ever will. They break down the Genius Act, ring-fenced stablecoin collateral, how interest on stablecoin reserves flows straight into US treasuries, and why the small-bank lobby is suddenly panicking.

Tom also walks through the legal trench warfare around ICOs, securities law, and the SEC — from the Gensler era's "sue first, lose in court later" strategy to new leadership that actually cares about law, facts, and workable rules. The conversation then zooms out to AML theater, sanctions, and privacy, arguing that most anti-money-laundering regulation hurts normal people far more than it stops criminals, while sanctions function as "secret violence" against entire populations.

In the final act, they turn to quantum computing and Bitcoin: Scott Aaronson's surprise timeline shift from "30–50 years" to "3–5 years," the narrow but devastating power of Shor's algorithm, and why web2 can probably patch to post-quantum quickly — but Bitcoin and older chains are uniquely exposed because their on-chain state is the canonical source of truth. They explore what a quantum-secure, reversible future might look like, and why now is the time to build it.

🔗 Follow Tom Howard

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/_TomHoward

🔗 Follow Christopher Smith
X (Twitter) – https://x.com/YuviLightman

🔗 Follow Joe Mattia
X (Twitter) – https://x.com/JoeMattia

🔗 Follow Jangle
X (Twitter) – https://x.com/defijangle

🔗 Follow Quantus Network
Website – https://www.quantus.com/
X (Twitter) – https://x.com/QuantusNetwork
Telegram Community – https://t.me/quantusnetwork
Ecosystem Links – https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱ Chapters
00:00 TSA bomb scare: homemade electrolytes & the bomb squad
04:00 What "biohacking" really is: sleep, saunas, labs & longevity
08:00 Saunas, sperm counts, "icing the boys" & mitochondrial health
15:00 Libertarian roots, discovering Bitcoin & the ICO rabbit hole
20:00 How banks actually work: reserves, FDIC & money from a spreadsheet
26:00 Stablecoins, the Genius Act & why small banks are freaking out
32:00 SEC chaos, Gensler's legacy & the new wave of crypto rulemaking
38:00 AML theater, sanctions, surveillance & the cost of "compliance"
46:00 Quantum timelines, Scott Aaronson's U-turn & shorelines for ECC
52:00 Why Bitcoin is most exposed & what a quantum-safe future needs

What happens when quantum computers stop being theory and start actively breaking the cryptography that runs Bitcoin and public blockchains?

In this episode of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith (founder of Quantus Network), co-host Joe Mattia, and returning guest Jangle dive deep into "Q-Day" the moment quantum hardware can steal coins, fake signatures, and rewrite the trust assumptions of the entire crypto ecosystem. They unpack why timelines are compressing, how academic skeptics like Scott Aaronson and major voices like Vitalik are revising their estimates, and why Bitcoin may be in the most fragile position of all.

They walk through the three enormous coordination problems the industry must solve: convincing builders and leaders to care, reaching social consensus on which post-quantum standards to adopt, and then actually migrating billions in value, including Satoshi's coins, centralized exchange cold wallets, and DeFi protocols before attackers do. Along the way they explore HD wallets, lattice cryptography, Falcon vs Dilithium, quantum game theory between nation-states, and how stablecoins, ETFs, and Wall Street custody change who really decides what "real Bitcoin" is.

The conversation then turns to Quantus: why starting from a fresh, quantum-secure, ZK-friendly L1 solves problems legacy chains can't, and how native reversible transactions can eliminate blind signing horror stories, Bybit-style hacks, and endless test transactions. From escrow-less real-estate deals to proof-of-funds flows, Chris, Joe, and Jangle sketch a future where quantum-secure money and humane UX actually coexist, if the industry is willing to move before the asteroid hits.

Follow the Guests

Jangle
X – https://x.com/defijangle

Christopher Smith
https://x.com/YuviLightman

Joe Mattia
https://x.com/JoeMattia

Quantus Network
https://www.quantus.com/
https://t.me/quantusnetwork
https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 — Q-Day, compressed timelines & the three milestones of migration
02:00 — Scott Aaronson, shifting quantum timelines & 2028 key-cracking fears
04:00 — Why Bitcoin may be in the worst position of all
06:00 — HD wallets, seed phrases & how post-quantum breaks old assumptions
08:00 — Lattice cryptography, Falcon vs Dilithium & choosing a standard
10:00 — Expected value, tail risk & responsible leadership in crypto
12:00 — Satoshi's coins, rich lists & mega-targets like Binance cold wallets
14:00 — Nation-states, first-mover advantage & brutal quantum game theory
16:00 — Quantum attacks, stablecoins & ETF custodians under stress
18:00 — BlackRock, Bitcoin ETFs & who really chooses the "real" fork
20:00 — Stablecoin issuers, protocol capture & fork-choice power
22:00 — BIP-444, illegal content & retroactive editing of the chain
24:00 — Fresh L1s & why not going quantum-secure in 2025 is madness
26:00 — Designing Quantus: quantum-secure, ZK-friendly from genesis
28:00 — Reversible transactions as the missing primitive in blockchains
30:00 — Proof-of-funds, good-faith deposits & escrowless large deals
32:00 — Blind signing, multisigs & supply-chain attacks like the Bybit hack
34:00 — Clear-signing on Quantus & radically shrinking the attack surface
36:00 — Building quantum-secure, reversible stablecoins for the dollar era
38:00 — Final reflections: Q-Day as crypto's asteroid & why migration starts now

In Episode 9 of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith sits down with machine-learning researcher and writer Brian Chau for a fast-moving exploration of how modern AI really works — from competitive programming and pure math, to transformers, quantization, and the hidden mechanics behind today's large language models.

Brian breaks down attention, zero-shot completion, training vs post-training, and how curated datasets transformed basic next-token predictors into conversational systems like ChatGPT. He also shares his path from Canadian and US programming Olympiads to random graph theory at Waterloo, early AI startups, and building Alliance for the Future in response to US regulatory pressures.

The conversation expands into AI hype cycles, stagnation, and why the "Terminator model" of AGI misses the real story. Chris and Brian examine Peter Thiel's warnings about technological slowdown, ideology as "frozen weights" in science, and what it would take for societies to regain their learning rate. They connect AI to cryptography, quantum threats, and governance — exploring whether decentralized networks can react as quickly as centralized systems, and why Network School may be a template for faster, more resilient social structures.

A dense and philosophical episode about AI, progress, and the future of human coordination.

🔗 Follow the guest

Brian Chau

https://x.com/BrianChau57

Follow Christopher Smith

https://x.com/YuviLightman

Quantus Network

https://www.quantus.com/

https://t.me/quantusnetwork

https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱ Chapters

00:00 — Competitive programming, math Olympiads & falling into ML

04:00 — Pure math, random graph theory & early AI startups

08:00 — Quantization, floats & efficiency in model design

12:00 — Transformers, attention & the 2017 breakthrough

18:00 — Zero-shot completion & how ChatGPT learned Q&A

24:00 — Post-training, RLHF & the "polite AI" persona

30:00 — AI winters, hype cycles & diminishing returns

36:00 — Peter Thiel, stagnation & the meaning of progress

42:00 — Ideology, "settled science" & frozen weights in institutions

48:00 — Centralization, blockchains & quantum-era security

52:00 — Network states & the learning rate of civilizations

🎥 The Quantus Podcast — Network School Series (Sept 2025)
Network School brings together remote workers, digital nomads, creators, personal trainers, self-improvers, event organizers, and engineers — all collaborating to build themselves up while building the next generation of startup societies. Founded by Balaji Srinivasan — https://x.com/balajis

📍 Recorded Sept 2025 in the Quantus popup studio at Network School, Forest City

What happens when crypto, freedom, and the future of money collide?

In this episode of The Quantus Podcast, Christopher Smith — founder of Quantus Network — sits down with Jangle, a DeFi builder, crypto philosopher, and outspoken digital-freedom advocate. Together, they unpack the deeper forces shaping crypto, capital markets, and the future of human coordination.

From the origins of DeFi to prediction markets, metaverse culture, the Canadian trucker protests, and why cryptography has become a civilian weapon, this conversation cuts straight to the core of what's at stake: a future of open, censorship-resistant financial systems… or a world where participation in the economy requires state-issued permission.

This is one of the most wide-ranging conversations of the series — bridging technology, politics, economics, psychology, and the philosophy of freedom.

🔗 Follow the Guest — Jangle

X: https://x.com/defijangle

🔗 Follow Christopher Smith

X: https://x.com/YuviLightman

🔗 Quantus Network

Website – https://www.quantus.com/
Telegram Community – https://t.me/quantusnetwork
Ecosystem Links – https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – The Jangle Origin Story & NFT Llama Culture
05:00 – Metaverse, Snow Crash & Mind Viruses
09:00 – Human Coordination, Value Exchange & Digital Rights
12:00 – Property Rights, Jurisdictions & On-Chain Reality
15:00 – Bitcoin vs Altcoins, Risk & the Wild West of Crypto
18:00 – Two Futures: Open Systems vs Permissioned Money
19:30 – Canadian Truckers & Weaponized Finance
23:00 – Banks, Abuse of Power & Why Crypto Exists
27:00 – The Two Big Problems: Self-Custody & Real-World Assets
36:00 – Stablecoins, Multipolar Money & the Future of Finance

🎥 The Quantus Podcast — Network School Series (Sept 2025)
Network School brings together remote workers, digital nomads, creators, personal trainers, self-improvers, event organizers, and engineers — all collaborating to build themselves up while building the next generation of startup societies. Founded by Balaji Srinivasan — https://x.com/balajis

📍 Recorded Sept 2025 in the Quantus popup studio at Network School, Forest City.

In Episode 7, Christopher Smith sits down with creator and strategist Sujal Lethwani to unpack how he built a 200,000-follower personal brand and a network reaching over 4 million people — all beginning as a 15-year-old posting motivational content from his bedroom.

Sujal shares the mindset, systems, failures, bans, rebuilds, and algorithmic insights that shaped his rise on Instagram, as well as the deeper story of going from a self-described "loser" in school to a leader with global reach.

This episode explores his journey through content creation, Network School, mentorship, decentralization, and the psychology behind building a long-term personal brand in the age of platform risk.

A fast-paced and inspiring conversation for creators, builders, and anyone trying to understand how attention actually works online.

Follow Sujal:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sujal.jethwani

Follow Quantus:
X (Twitter) – https://x.com/QuantusNetwork

Quantus Network Community – https://t.me/quantusnetwork
Tech Support – https://t.me/quantustechsupport
Announcements – https://t.me/quantusannouncements

⏱ Chapters

(00:00) Opening Story & Sujal's Early Motivation
(00:04) Meeting Sujal & His First Instagram Experiments
(00:09) Balaji, Network School & Moving to Dubai
(00:14) From 15-Year-Old "Loser" to Building a Community
(00:18) Global Markets: US/UK Demand, Bans & Platform Limits
(00:23) Hacks, Recoveries & Reinventing Your Brand
(00:28) Platform Dynamics: YouTube, Instagram & Permissions
(00:32) Decentralization, Nostr & Who Owns Your Followers
(00:37) Governance, Network Effects & Metcalfe's Law
(00:41) The Three-Part Framework: Foundation, Exploration, Transformation
(00:46) Culture, Diwali, Personal Philosophy & What Comes Next

From The Quantus Podcast – Network School Series (Oct 2025)

🎥 The Quantus Podcast — Network School Series (Sept 2025)
Network School brings together remote workers, digital nomads, creators, personal trainers, self-improvers, event organizers, and engineers — all collaborating to build themselves up while building the next generation of startup societies. Founded by Balaji Srinivasan — https://x.com/balajis

📍 Recorded Sept 2025 in the Quantus popup studio at Network School, Forest City.

What happens when quantum computing, AI surveillance, and open-source movements collide?

In this episode of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith (founder of Quantus Network) and Joe Mattia explore how the next generation of cryptography, privacy tools, and open protocols will determine the balance between control and freedom in the digital world.

From hidden vulnerabilities inside Bitcoin and stablecoin minting keys, to NSA secrecy, Signal's post-quantum upgrade, and the philosophy behind open source — this is a deep, technical, yet very human discussion about power, transparency, privacy, and trust.

They break down everything from "save now, decrypt later" attacks, to AI automating law, to the broken economics of intellectual property, and why encryption is ultimately about human dignity.

A must-watch for anyone thinking about the future of security, surveillance, and freedom in the quantum era.

Follow the Guests

Christopher Smith
https://x.com/YuviLightman

Joe Mattia
https://x.com/JoeMattia

Quantus Network
https://www.quantus.com/
https://t.me/quantusnetwork
https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Entering the real world of quantum computing
02:00 – Bitcoin mining myths vs digital signature reality
04:00 – Stablecoin minting keys & catastrophic vulnerabilities
06:00 – NSA secrecy, intelligence agencies & the hidden quantum race
08:00 – "Save now, decrypt later" and post-quantum messaging
10:00 – WhatsApp, Signal & the slow death of privacy
13:00 – AI surveillance, metadata & the illusion of consent
16:00 – AI as your lawyer: automation, bureaucracy & legal disruption
19:00 – Intellectual property, open source & why information wants to live
23:00 – Cryptography, dignity & the next generation of digital freedom

How do you build quantum-secure systems before quantum computers even exist?

In this episode of The Quantum Podcast, Christopher Smith (founder of Quantus Network) and Joe Mattia break down the misconceptions, mathematics, and market signals behind the global race toward post-quantum cryptography.

They explore how cryptographic security is proven through mathematical guarantees rather than hardware tests, why Bitcoin's elliptic-curve signatures are vulnerable to quantum attacks, and why lattice-based cryptography — including Dilithium, now standardized by NIST — represents the next frontier of secure digital infrastructure.

From safe-cracking analogies and electromagnetic side-channel attacks, to reversible transactions, photonic quantum computing, and the real-world politics of quantum-era Bitcoin, this episode maps the coming transformation of global security — and how Quantus is preparing the internet for the post-quantum world.

Follow the Guests

Christopher Smith
https://x.com/YuviLightman

Joe Mattia
https://x.com/JoeMattia

Quantus Network
https://www.quantus.com/
https://t.me/quantusnetwork
https://linktr.ee/quantusnetwork

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Quantum Monday & setting the record straight
02:00 – Why we don't need quantum computers to build quantum security
05:00 – Modeling quantum algorithms & the math that drives cryptography
08:00 – Classical vs quantum speed & why factorization breaks everything
11:00 – Debug loops, hardware evolution & why quantum machines are hard to build
14:00 – Market signals, investment flows & the real quantum arms race
17:00 – Bitcoin's elliptic-curve vulnerability & quantum-era politics
20:00 – Lattice cryptography, Dilithium & the future of secure signatures
24:00 – Side-channel attacks, constant-time coding & listening to the hardware
27:00 – The coming quantum upgrade & how Quantus is building ahead of it